Rep. Cisneros’s SOTU Guest was a Target of Elon Musk’s DOGE Cuts
Washington, DC – Today, Congressman Gilbert R. Cisneros, Jr. announced his guest for this week’s State of the Union address is West Covina City Councilman Ollie Cantos. Councilman Cantos is the first blind person and individual with a visible disability ever to be elected to West Covina’s Council. He most recently served as Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Education, but was recently placed on leave due to Elon Musk’s sweeping DOGE cuts of the federal workforce.
“President Trump and Elon Musk’s sweeping cuts to our federal agencies – which have yet to yield any proven savings – not only undermines our government’s ability to help hardworking families, but also is an attack on our federal workers’ livelihoods,” said Rep. Cisneros. “Councilmember Cantos has admirably served in multiple administrations and dedicated his life to fostering equal opportunity for all. To know him is to know his commitment to the American people. I’m honored he accepted my invitation to attend the State of the Union, and I hope his presence serves to remind President Trump and Shadow President Musk that their personal power grab and contempt for our country’s civil servants is harming American lives.”
Below is Councilmember Cantos’s biography:
Blind since birth and born in Los Angeles to Filipino immigrants, Ollie Cantos is a native son of West Covina. Ollie Cantos has been a licensed attorney since 1999. He has worked in federal service in senior roles since 2004 including in the Office of the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Justice, the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Education, and at the White House Domestic Policy Council where he was Associate Director. In addition, here within our congressional district, he is an elected member of the City Council in West Covina with a population of 110,000. He also happens to be blind, and his work ethic typifies the millions of people who have dedicated their lives to making a positive difference through the work that they do each day.
In addition to his ongoing Federal Government responsibilities, Ollie is Attorney Mentor with the American Bar Association's Commission on Disability Rights, Member of the Kiwanis Club of West Covina, and Chairman of the Board at RespectAbility, a multi-million-dollar national nonpartisan non-profit cross-disability organization that fights stigmas and advances opportunities on behalf of this nation's more than 61 million Americans with disabilities.
His prior leadership posts include Member and Vice Chair of the President’s Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities, Legal Officer for the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary, Vice President of the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, Member of the Board of Directors of the Loyola Marymount University National Alumni Association, and Member of the Board of Governors of the Loyola Law School Alumni Association. He was also on the boards of the ENDependence Center of Northern Virginia, and Community Lodgings.
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